Acids and Bases

Properties of Acids
-produce H+ ions in solution
-electrolytes (cause water to conduct electricity)
-taste sour
-corrosive
-pH < 7
-react with some metals to produce H2 gas (hydrogen gas)
-react with carbonates and hydrogen carbonates to produce carbon dioxide CO 2
-affect the color of some natural dyes
-burns skin and paper
-neutralized by bases
Properties of Bases
-produce OH- ions in solution
-electrolytes (cause water to conduct electricity)
-bitter taste
-corrosive
-pH > 7
-used to make soaps
-change the color of some dyes
-feels slippery
-neutralized by acids
Acid/Base Neutralization (acid + base salt + water)
HCl(aq) + NaOH(aq) NaCl(aq) + H2O(l)
H2SO4(aq) + Ca(OH)2(aq) CaSO4(aq) + 2H2O(l)
Indicators
-indicators are compounds (dyes) which change color depending on the acid or base
properties of the solution
-bromothymol blue: yellow in acid
blue in base
green in neutral
-phenolphthalein: clear and colorless in acids and neutral
pink in base
-litmus paper:
red red; blue red (in acid)
red red; blue blue (in neutral)
red blue; blue blue (in base)

-universal indicator
red
orange
acid

yellow

green
neutral

blue

purple
base

The pH Scale
-used to measure the strength of dilute solutions of acid and bases
-dilute refers to less than 1.0 mol/L of H+ or OH- ions
0
more acidic
pH = -log10[H+]

7
neutral
where: p means power
[ ] denotes concentration

14
more basic